BenT

The last time I went through the salvage thing here in CA was many
years ago with an old Nissan P/U that I had bought from a guy not
knowing it was salvage (DOH!).

The paperwork was no big deal but the CA inspection was. I had to
replace all the tail light lenses and one headlight, fix the horn and
get the headlights adjusted to pass inspection. It was a pain. You
can't have a single crack in any lens or glass anywhere on the vehicle
or you will fail. Not a huge expense just more of a PITA.

Jeff in Marin
On Apr 15, 2011, at 11:17 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

> Date:    Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:56:51 -0400
> From:    Bill Glenn <idahobill@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: Would you buy this salvage title Vanagon?
>
> On Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:22:45 -0700, BenT Syncro <syncro@GMAIL.COM>
> wrote:
>
> ...Would you devalue to buy such a thing because of the resulting
> salvage
> title...
>
> Ben,
> Rules vary from state to state, but I have encountered the
> requirement that
> if repaired rather than scrapped, a vehicle carring a salvage title
> must be
> inspected for completeness of repairs to insure road worthiness
> prior to
> registration. I have been told that his can be a rather thorough
> inspection, such that things that could normally be mutually ignored
> by the
> seller and buyer of a used car, might have to be repaired (a cracked
> windshield or a slightly damaged body panel comes to mind).
>
> Further, for a vehicle that carries a salvage title, many if not most
> insurance companies will only offer liability insurance, even if the
> vehicle has been fully repaired.  I think the view is that if the
> previous
> damage was sufficent enough to warrant a salvage title, the insurance
> companies do not want anything to do with possible future repairs,
> perhaps
> because repairs could be complicated by the previous repair work.
>
> I know you said the vehicle in question has not been in a collision,
> but an
> insurance company will likely not being inspecting your van, but
> will go by
> what the title says.  And that's the very purpose of a salvage
> title, to
> put others on notice that some major event has taken place that may
> well
> compromise the integrity of the vehicle (think flood-damaged cars
> being
> cleaned up and resold to unsuspecting buyers).
>
> To save the van you must add value in carrying out the repairs, and
> a buyer
> who wishes to insure that value against possible loss will likely
> pass on
> the purchase if he cannot do so.
>
> For these reasons, a vehicle carrying a salvage title generally
> appeals to
> few buyers, and intrinsically carries a lower value as a result.
>
> Bill